59 low cost upgrades to enhance your boat; How to reduce weather helm; Boat repairs in a Force 9 storm; Designing and building your own…
Practical Boat Owner
April 2026 issue – out 12 February
Sailmaker tips for getting new life out of old sails; NMEA wifi gateways tested; Wayfarer Weekended on test; Cruising hacks from liveaboard sailors; Solo skipper’s…
August 2020
Let the summer commence! The latest issue of Practical Boat Owner extolls the virtues of buying second-hand. Ken Endean describes the way to eliminate doubt when buying and restoring a…
ColRegs refresher – 12 videos every skipper should watch
Are you windward or leeward? Starboard or port? Do you know Rule 12(iii) and how do you cross a shipping lane? This neat series of ColRegs videos we filmed back…
Norway to Scotland on a Nicholson 32 – a true North Sea passage
In 34 knots of wind and a North Sea swell nearing mast height, our Nicholson 32 is beating with a momentum most modern cruisers lack. In a sense it isn’t…
How to: check and change an anode
Galvanic corrosion is a phenomenon that affects the majority of boats. If you have two dissimilar metals, such as stainless steel and bronze, the water will act as an electrolyte…
Summer 2020
Boat electronics on a budget is the big story this month in the Summer issue of PBO. Rupert Holmes highlights the difference between what you want and what you need…
How to remove a marine diesel cylinder head step by step
During the summer of the 2019 our Bavaria 39 Tessa Jane began producing black exhaust smoke and suffering a reduction in power from her 2005 Volvo Penta MD2030. Initial investigations…
Youtube sailing: 6 of the best episodes about learning lessons at sea
A hallmark of a great sailor is the ability to keep calm in a crisis, deal with it, and bounce back. I write a monthly column all about the latest…
PBO Small Craft Almanac updates 2020
The official updates for the PBO Small Craft Almanac can be downloaded from the Adlard Coles website – updates for your almanac section. Or you can view the updates and…
Overboard in the Atlantic – how I fixed a broken rudder
When my wife Teija told me she had a surprise for me one Christmas, little did I know how valuable her gift would turn out to be. “Bring your swimming…
How to: service your lifejacket
Attitudes to wearing lifejackets have changed slowly but surely says offshore sailing instrucor and Rubicon 3 founder, Bruce Jacobs. As with car seatbelts, lifejackets are something that we automatically wear…
Coronavirus update England: “All watersports can go ahead”
All watersports, including the use of privately owned motorised craft, can go ahead in England from today (May 13) as the coronavirus lockdown restrictions are relaxed. In a statement this…
Coronavirus lockdown: English marinas and sailing clubs allowed to open today
English marinas and sailing clubs are permitted to open today following a change in Government guidance which allows people to travel to the coast and use the water. The Government…
Port hopping the north coast of Cornwall in a small boat
My wife, Sue, and I had been thinking about cruising the north Cornish coast on our trailer-sailer for the last decade, despite Mark Fishwick’s opinion in his West Country Cruising…
Slow boat around Wales – coastal and inland circumnavigation in a Vivacity 20
When we first moved to Deganwy I saw a programme on Welsh television with a couple of guys from Aberaeron who had circumnavigated Wales in a Drascombe longboat. That looks…
Wild about sailing in the wonderful Whitsunday Islands
Do you want to experience a new cruising ground, something exotic, visually stunning, an adventure with crystal clear water, interesting flora and fauna… and no crowds? I have the answer.…
Planning your next adventure? Here’s some inspiration from the crews of ARC 2019
Have you ever crossed the Atlantic? This month at PBO we’re focusing on Amazing Adventures. If you’re planning a passage, or just fancy a bit of armchair sailing, take a…
July 2020
Does your ground tackle pass muster? In the July issue of PBO (on sale 14 May) we offer 10 easy checks and dozens of ideas for improving your anchor and…
British designer James Wharram’s round-the-world adventure on Spirit of Gaia
The morning breeze was just starting to fill in as we headed out of Port Vathi on board Ionian Spirit, an old Danish fishing boat converted for charter. As we…
Night watch in the North Sea – how I beat the fear by facing it head on
As I prepared myself for my first meeting with the North Sea, I thought about the legend among sailors. There is, it is said, a monster living beneath the North…
Big new small yacht: Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 tested
Thirty years ago a small boat might have been anything less than around 24ft. However, that number has since leapt upwards, with many large manufacturers paying scant attention in the…